and Loyalty
by MsLanna
Summary: 34 years BBY, Leila and Jango Series 3, Leila Durmon is hired to kill Jango Fett.
1. Chapter 1

**Timeframe**: about 34 BBY  
**Characters**: Leila Durmon, Jango Fett  
**Keywords**: Bounty Hunter, Assassin, Seedy Side  
**Summary**: Leila Durmon is hired to kill Jango Fett.  
**Notes**: Third story in a series.

...and Loyalty

So that was it. Leila heard the door close softly behind her and began to walk towards the exit. He really wanted to have the bounty hunter killed. And for whatever reasons, he had indeed hired her to do it. Graden had also been rather specific about the proof of the job done.

"With Jango Fett? I'll believe he's dead when I see his dead body," he had said.

Leila nodded. "With or without armour?"

"As you please."

And that was that. It wasn't that there was too little room in the _Snakebite_ to transport a second person, or body in that case, but Leila avoided dragging corpses around when possible. It tended to make authorities suspicious and end up in more trouble than a job was worth. Except that this job was worth a big lot. So much, that it automatically raised her trouble tolerance by several notches. Graden had eve set up -

"Lana, wait!" a familiar voice called.

Leila almost forgot to answer to the name she had assumed once, but within seconds the voice fell into place. Elida.

"What are you doing here? Did my father get you, too? Are you saved?" The girl almost fell over herself with excitement.

Leila measured her coldly "I am an assassin and your father just hired me."

Elida stared at her. "An assassin? Then how did you end up in Raad's place?"

Sorely tempted to roll her eyes at the naiveté of Graden's daughter, Leile suppressed a sigh. "He also hired me to retrieve you and terminate Raad," she explained.

Shocked, Elida's hand flew to her mouth. It took her some time to gather her courage. "And, did you? I mean-

Leila nodded.

"Oh, how could you! I-"

Leila cut her off with an impatient gesture. "In a galaxy like this, men like your father will always find women like me to hire for such jobs. No matter which man you had chosen, if Lord Graden disapproved, he would have found the same end. That's just the way it is."

"My father…" Elida's voice trailed off.

"You better do what he wants Elida, He's a mighty man and not very patient if opposed."

Leila clapped the girl on the back and left. _High time for an eye-opener there,_ she thought as she returned to the _Snakebite_.


	2. Chapter 2

The journey to Leritor was uneventful and almost to short to come up with a good plan. Not that this mattered much to Leila, Graden had already set up the bounty hunter and all she had to do was collect him at the right place at the right time. And then, of course, kill him. Which was the difficult part.

_If Graden had only kept his mouth shu__t then_, the assassin mused.

Of course, the fact that he had set up things so neatly, made Leila more than suspicious. The extremely high bounty of 57,000 credits added to her queasy feeling about the set up. Leila doubted Graden really wanted to pay that much, even if his pride was involved. It was probably a trap within a trap, with somebody waiting to dispose of her after she had eliminated Fett. She would not let that happen, though. Fett had the reputation of being rather indestructible, so pure force would most likely not work. Storming the meeting place with a drawn blaster and shooting until nothing moved any more might just work, but might just as well get her killed in the process or imprisoned.

But Leila was specialised on subtlety, a fact Fett certainly knew. So she decided to try blunt, and take things from there. What was important about this mission, was to keep Fett off balance as well as possible and unaware of her real plan. Which she needed rather desperately. Realizing that she was drumming her fingers, Leila stopped and began to do elaborate finger exercises in stead. It looked like cat's cradle, only with fingers used instead of string.

By the time she reached Leritor, the assassin had her plan worked out roughly, and dressed neatly into a dress that catered to her figure without being obvious about it. Deep cleavage would not help her any, Leila, assumed. She was not dealing with just another guy this time.

_Too bad, he's not as instinct driven as my other clients,_ Leila thought, adjusting her high collar. Her soft boots made no sound as she walked down the ramp and locked the _Snakebite_ behind her.

The meeting place was in the centre of the city, the alien origin of which could not be denied. The houses seemed to be at odd angels, and though their colours were subdued, the mix of light lilac, purples and dark orange was not something humans would come up with. At least, Leila hoped so. The native Sauvax probably saw a different spectrum of the light and since there were fewer humans had not felt any need to adapt.

The streets were a little wider than expected, taking into account the broader built of the six-legged Sauvax. The assassin watched the crab-like creatures as she passed them by, assessing their strengths and weaknesses as well as she could. She might still end up having to fight some of them. In general, the natives seemed a lot more peaceful than the few humans scattered in the streets. With no visible weapons except an occasional pike, they seemed almost harmless. But Leila was wary. She used no weapons herself, but harmless was not a word that described her well.

The tapcafe itself was situated at the central place. It was easy to watch from all sides, and on the roofs of the other buildings was enough space to hide a sniper, or a small army of them. That was not taking into account the possibility of having agents around on the place itself, or inside the buildings. Obviously, the bounty hunter had come to the same conclusion. Unlike arranged, he did not sit at a table outside. Leila smiled tightly, she had not expected the bounty hunter to play sitting duck, anyway. Time for the show.

Leila sauntered into the café, making sure her swaying walk attracted the attention of a few patrons. Being seen was one way to discourage being shot immediately, nobody liked witnesses scattered all over the place. The bounty hunter sat with his back to the wall and able to watch the whole café. Of course, he had seen her entrance, but Leila was not even trying to pretend.

"Well, hello Mando," Leila purred, slinking into the chair opposite to him. "If that is not too much of a coincidence that you are indeed exactly where Graden told me."

"Did he now."

The assassin nodded. "Ykka flavoured sweetwater," she told the waiting droid. "And by the small changes you made to the arrangement," she added turning to Fett again, "I can see you did not expect an elderly archaeologist either."

There was no reply. But none was necessary. Fett was neither sitting outside nor had he come without his armour.

"So tell me, because I am really curious, on what kind of wild goose chase Graden sent you." Leila leaned back and sipped on her newly arrived drink.

Instead of an answer, the bounty hunter placed a small holodevice on the table. It showed and odd looking statue, as if the creator had not been sure whether to depict a human or a cockroach.

"Sith artefact, huh," Leila said, reading the small script. "You should be careful, if you have to meddle with them."

"They're enemy of the Jedi," Fett replied as if that explained everything.

The assassin leaned back and watched him closely. "The enemy of my enemy might be my enemy, too. Or at least, my death. But I'm not here to lecture you on this topic."

"So, tell me," even through the filters, Fett's voice sounded sarcastic, "why you are here."

"Oh, please, Mando." Leila held her hands up in exasperation. "I'm an assassin, and my job description did no chance recently. But since it was Graden who set this up, and I don't intend to end up dead, too -" The beeping of her comm interrupted her.

Leila frowned when she saw the origin of the call. "Just wait a minute, it might save your life," she told Fett. "And don't go anywhere," with a sly wink she got up.

To her relief the bounty hunter crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back challengingly.

"I'll just be a minute."

In the privacy of the fresher, Leila accepted the call, after putting up appropriate security measures. It did not pay to be listened in to.

"Durmon here."

"Um, hello," the voice was soft and hesitating. "Lana, this is Elida."

The assassin smiled tightly. This would be exciting.

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"Well, well, guess who that just was," Leila said with a smirk when she returned to the table. Fett was still sitting there, arms crossed as if he never moved at all. "Lord Graden's daughter herself. She wants me to quit whatever I'm doing and kill her father instead. She's offering double pay, too."

"Sounds kind of counterproductive."

"I don't now, Mando," Leila's brow furrowed. "We only need a really good plan. We might be able to earn all three bounties."

"Selling my own head?" Jango raised a brow. "I never thought of that before."

"Well, before it would have been suspicious if you had not really been dead afterwards. But except Lord Graden, nobody expects your death any day soon. And if we manage to get that artefact, there is even something in it for you."

"Apart from staying alive?" It sounded amused.

"So you think I can't do it, huh?" Leila made a point of staying calm. "You are free to find out anytime." She took another sip of her drink before crossing her arms, too. "Just remember that if you refuse, I'll get you - sooner or later. I have to be lucky only once. _You_ will have to be lucky all the time. Do the odds yourself."

"I am tempted to believe you, if only, because I took the effort to put some truth serum into your drink."

Leila stared from Fett to her glass and back. "Did you now. How very considerate off you, Mando."

"Let's do this on my terms again," he replied deadpan.

"You're interesting but you won't like the truth."

"Why are you here?" There was no infection to his tone.

"Graden sent me to dispose of you. Seems he's keen enough about it to set you up, even." Leila decided to let him have his way for now. She leaned back and watched the armoured figure. Time for phase two.

"Obviously. How were you to go about it?"

"The usual way using female guiles and all that. Everything else would have depended on how pliable you are." The assassin played with a strand of her hair. "I would not have minded at all this time." She winked.

"And you kill your victims before or after?"

She looked him up and down slowly. "That would have depended on your performance, Mando. But I would venture the guess of afterwards."

In the long pause following, Leila wondered if Fett was checking his audio sensors, or keeping the urge to bang his helmet onto the table in check. Maybe both. Good.

"So this is my suggestion. First, we get you non-existent artefact, then you play dead and I drag you to Graden. He won't suspect anything so he's easy money. Any flaws?"

"Who says I can trust you?"

"Same here, Mando," Leila smiled. "Let's just say we don't and get over with it. I really prefer 175,000 easy credits over 225,00 that could be rather difficult."

"My sahre?"

"Risen from 50,000 to 100,000, and all for just playing dead for a while. Not a bad deal, is it, Mando?"

"Could you stop calling me that I do have a name."

"I had no idea that we were on first name basis already, but that's fine with me. Call me Leila."

"What are you playing for?"

"Nothing special, but anything in general that has a reward." Leila liked keeping him a little off balance. Let him believe whatever he wanted. "Hope, you realize, I'm not doing you a favour here. I just want to spare me the trouble of hunting you down again, Fett."

She waited.

Finally, the bounty hunter gave a curt nod. "The excavation site near The Bleaks."

"Good as anything," Leila agreed. But first we should shake any followers. The best way would be a great commotion, we both have to take off in a hurry and Graden is none the wiser. I report my drawback, you report progress, and then we get together again and make some plans."

"Good enough."

Before the assassin could whip up a spur of the moment plan, the commotion already started. Something was crashing loudly into building, if Leila interpreted the sound right, and it was approaching. She glanced at Fett, but he gave no sign. Then a big harvester came into view, lumbering onto the place and taking the corner of a house with it. A crowd of agitated Sauvax and humans followed it, shouting orders and suggestions to the bewildered driver. Nothing the poor man did, had any effect, though. the harvester jerked around, seemingly random, and finally rolled of towards the tapcafe at full speed.

Leila smiled tightly. "Neat trick, bounty hunter. See you." And she dashed off with the other patrons that realized the harvester would most likely not stop. Merging with the crowd assembling on the place to watch the spectacle, Leila turned and waited for Fett to follow. He didn't. Even after the whole building had crashed, he was nowhere to be seen.

_Another neat trick,_ Leila mused as she walked off, _vanishing like that._


	3. Chapter 3

She had spent half the night over her pad, checking and rechecking all information about the alleged artefact. There were hints and legends, but a little research showed, that all entries could be followed back to the same two holonet accounts. The whole thing was a hoax, not even executed too well, but a cursory survey would not find anything amiss.

Leila shut down her pad and massaged her temples. She would not get any further now, which was frustrating, when she considered that she didn't get anywhere at all yet. With a sigh she stood up. She had an appointment to keep. Time to get going.

On the way to the speeder, Leila popped a few stim pills into her mouth. They would keep her awake through the next day, even if it meant she would have to go to sleep early. There was no real sleep in the small time between now and sunrise. Washing the pills down with a bottle of water, she kicked the speeder to life.

The road wound northward along the coastline, never losing sight of the ocean. In her mind, Leila still tried to puzzle together the best way to get her hands on a faked artefact. All of them needed time, the better the longer, and neither of them could be executed on Leritor itself. Which would make Graden suspicious, not to mention that he would have to be left out of the first bargain anyway. But she could think about the intermediary later. First they needed that stupid sculpture. Squatting Seer. What a ridiculous name on top of it all.

The road took another turn, heading back towards the land along a narrow strip of land. _As narrow as the path I am going down, _Leila thought. _Crossing Graden is not an easy thing to do, but having to work together with bucket man complicated things enormously._ She didn't trust him further than she could throw him - with armour - and if given a choice not even that far. The assassin needed leverage on the bounty hunter.

The last stars began to fade, leaving the planet in a murky greyish light. In her headlight, Leila saw a tiny bay come closer. In the dim light, it seemed like a perfect semicircle, the waves lapping at the shore pensively. It was beautiful. Seeming completely untouched by anybody it lay in the small bay, the changing light of predawn colouring it all shades of grey.

_Time enough_, Leila though, checking her chrono. The remaining way would only take a couple of hours and this - this was the ocean. She took the speeder down into the last underbrush, and locked it. Then she slipped out of her boots, revelling in the soft touch of the sand under her feet. A light streak of grey slowly pried apart the horizon, separating it into ocean and sky again.

Leila used a large stone to pin down her clothes and mark their place, then she dived into the water. After the long hours of fruitless thinking, the cold waves were invigorating. Chasing the weariness away, the forces of ebb and flow tugged at her. She dipped her head below the water as if washing the frustration away. For a long time there was nothing but the cold rush of water in her ears and the taste of salt on her lips. then she broke the surface again.

With her head cleared from the exertion, the assassin began mulling over her problem again. There had to be a way to get that force frigged artefact. Of course, faking something that looked as if it had belonged to the Sith was no problem at all. She could scrounge up countless of those. The problem was the authenticity when you touched them. Real Sith artefacts gave you the cold willies. Like touching current, only that current was not disgusting. And that was something, nobody had managed to fake so far.

She drifted in the water, feeling the first rays of sunlight on her face. At least, she was not alone with the problem. Let that bounty hunter do some thinking, too. After all, it was his life at stake. Leila turned around and began to swim back with long strokes. The ebb pulled at her body, but it had no chance against the measured force of the assassin. Every now and then, she dived deep, letting the ocean drag her back a bit, daring it to try keep her.

With the sun at her back, Leila scanned the beach for her marker, which was easy to find. Mostly, because an armoured figure stood right next to it. She muttered a curse under her breath as her head dipped under the water with her next stroke. But when she came up again, a very different idea struck her. Leverage. Even Mandalorian bounty hunters had to be men somewhere under all that cloth and metal. With a feral smirk on her face, she ploughed through the water. Men were easy.

She dived a last time, running her hand through the sand on the ground. A last moment of simplicity, complete awareness of herself and her surroundings in the here and now. Then she broke the surface and the contingencies of future possibilities turned simplicity into something rather complicated. The fact that there was nobody to be seen at the beach, did not improve that any.

Looking around under the pretence to shake off the water, Leila found no trace of any other being and when she reached her clothes there was no hint that there ever had been anybody around. Slipping into her clothes, Leila looked around, but nothing moved in the beginning day. Still, she was sure the bounty hunter had been here only minutes ago. She grumbled, not happy about the missed chance to play the stricken nixie. That part of her plan would have to wait again

_Whatever business he had standing here and vanishing in full armour._ It did just not make sense. Fett - Leila stopped herself. She had no proof that it had been him. She had just assumed, drawn a conclusion that seemed logical under the circumstances. Seemed, if only at first glance. She could not be sure, the information…

Information.

That was it. The solution to all problems. Leila turned to watch the sun rise over the horizon, feeling her mood rise with it. "All too easy," she laughed.

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In the speeder. the assassin turned the heater up to the maximum, and when she reached the excavation site, only her hair was still slightly damp. On the place in front of the camp, a lonely figure in archaeologist's clothes stood, and it took Leila some time to realize that the bespectacled head sticking out of them belonged to Fett. Snickering she parked and jumped out of the vehicle.

"Good job at blending in," Leila said looking him up and down. "Or did somebody nick your tin gear?"

"Nobody lays hands on my armour," he replied, scanning the area.

"Or else?" Leila didn't wait for an answer. "Let's go and meet our contact, Len'ari." She linked her arm with his.

"Our contact?" Fett raised a brow.

"Oh, he doesn't know it yet," Leila conceded. "But he has the Seer and -"

"- you will get it from him?" The bounty hunter did not sound the least convinced.

"Be a bit nicer to the girl with the plan, Mando," Leila chided. "The Seer is here, just wait and see." She nudged him with her elbow. "I think there he comes already. Time to show your enthusiastic girl to your colleagues, Mando."

Fett did not reply, but as the assassin had assumed, he had already made contact with the archaeologists.

The Bothan who approached them, shook Fett's hand heartily. "Voren, so you are back." He glanced at Leila. "And that is?"

"Cecil Dunn," Leila said before Fett could answer. She took the Bothan's hand and shook it. "He told me so much about this place, I just had to see it you. You are Dr. Len'ari? Your reputation is incredible. How come you end up in a place like this? I mean, you could-"

As expected, Fett cut her off. "My friend, Cecil Dunn," he introduced her. "Cecil, meet Dr. Arnk Len'ari. And try to not chatter." He added.

Leila, batted her eyes at him and the Bothan, but fell silent. The excavation site was not exactly a secret, but after the crisis a few years back information on it was kept low, and most of it directly vanished in the archives of the Jedi. Which was a very good thing, when it came to exclusive information.

Leila got a tour of the encampment that was more extensive than she liked, but finally, the came to the hut in which the discoveries were tucked away.

"So far that figurine is the only complete thing we found," Len'ari explained as he led them through a wealth of shards and fragments. "Our investor still hopes for better results, thiugh we cannot figure why. As soon as the preliminary examinations have been made, all this goes directly to the Jedi. And whatever our investor is, a Jedi, he is not."

The professor shook his head thoughtfully, while he opened a small box. In it sat the ugliest statue, Leila had ever seen. It looked like the offspring of a Devaronian and a Hutt, with a sprinkle of Ewok.

"May I?" She reached out tentatively.

"If you want to," Len'ari replied. "You might not like it, though.

When the assassin felt it prickle on her skin, she pretended to almost drop it. Fett took it from her hands and replaced it in the box.

"That's strange, according to all sources, there should have been a big settlement here," he said to Len'ari.

The Bothan shrugged. "We do what we can, there might be more a little further north. The river has changed its course over the years and this might not even be the right place."

"Is that not frustrating?" Leila asked. "I imagine that-"

The opening door interrupted her. "Professor?" a young woman stuck her head in. "Erk has found something, you should look at."

"Big?" Len'ari was already moving.

"Nothing spectacular, but seems to be whole, this time."

They left Fett and Leila in the hut, oblivious to everything but the new object.

"Are you good with computers, Mando?" Leila asked as soon as the door closed.

"Why?"

"Because, if you are, that is the Squatting Seer." Leila's eyes sparkled as she pointed at the closed box. "The Jedi control all information about this."

"And there are more than enough Jedi," Fett said after a short pause.

"I am afraid the artefact will soon be reported stolen," Leila made a mock sad face and linking her arm with his again. "At which time you will have to take off in hot pursuit. As will I."

"About a week should suffice," Fett said. "Doing the programming in hyperspace, we will just have to feed the data into the net."

"And report to Graden," Leila grinned. "I am sure one of his trusted lieutenants will coincidentally be just in the right place when you get your hands on the Seer."

"When do we start?"

Instead of answering, Leila took a small projector out of her sleeve. She recorded the object for a while, then she wrapped it into a bit of cloth and stashed it into her bra. Setting the projector on repeat she placed the fake in the box instead. "Won't fool them for a second, but it leads directly to a Hutt syndicate."

The bounty hunter placed the box back on the shelf and they went. On their way, they said a short goodbye to Len'ari who was sitting over a bowl covered with intricate spiralling pattern. He was not very talkative, but Fett and Leila tried nevertheless. The man who seemed to be Erk acknowledged that and nodded them off.

"See you in space, Mando," Leila grinned as she jumped back into her speeder.

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End file.
